Purpose

We conducted an exploratory study of brain tumors that occurred as a second primary malignancy to identify potential risk factors for brain tumors.

Methods

Using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, we calculated the sex-specific standardized incidence ratio (SIR), adjusted to age and time period, as an estimate of the relative risk (RR) of developing a second primary brain tumor following other cancers.

Results

We found an elevated RR of brain tumors after bladder cancer in both men (RR, 1.7 ; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2 to 2.3) and women (RR, 1.7 ; 95% CI, 0.8 to 3.2) ; this effect was present for both astrocytoma and glioblastoma multiforme.

The highest RR observed in this study was for CNS lymphoma following any first primary malignancy in men (RR, 7.9 ; 95% CI, 5.5 to 11.0).

Conclusion

The associations of brain tumors with bladder, colorectal, and endometrial cancers in women, and an increased occurrence of CNS lymphoma as a second malignancy in men, are new findings that have not been described previously.